PSA - Check your paint...

[Paultg]

I have had my Ram 1500 Laramie for about 15 days; it arrived at the dealership back at the end of July and I picked it up Aug 10th.
Truck has just under 1100 miles on it. Today I noticed what I thought was water along the top edge of the front passenger side fender flare.
Investigated further and as you can see it's not water, it's the paint coming off. Looks like the fender flare had a paint run on the edge, and when it was attached to the truck it was disturbed.
I am assuming these flares are painted separately off the truck then attached.
Also hoping the paint on the fender is fine (it appears that way, but hard to know without taking flare off).
Heading to the dealer on Friday to discuss. Of course over the phone they said "could be a rock chip". I just laughed and said it's not and that I'd bring it in for inspection.
Checked the rest of the truck and didn't find anything so I was glad about that.
Anyone know if these flares come painted from FCA and are just swapped out? Wondering what to expect for a fix.

 

[Mr. Hindsight]

From what I can tell, it looks like the fender flare paint kinda peeled back/ off a little. Maybe during instillation or the fender has moved slightly over different road conditions. If that’s the case, it would seem like a simple fix. Either repaint the fender or maybe even use some touch up paint after removing the flaking paint with the fender flare off.

 

[Paultg]

The flare has paint runs / bubble on it that looks like water has pooled on the edge there. But it’s not water. It’s the paint coming off.

 

[Paultg]

Update:
Went to dealership (Bob Mariano in Concord, NH) said they do not have a body shop so they can’t help with a warranty issue for paint.
They even called two other
dealers for me but they also do not have body shops.
The dealers are:
Bob Mariano in Concord NH (Where I visited today)
Allen Mello in Nashua NH
Bonniville & Son in Manchester, NH

Pretty annoying. Not sure what to do now. I sent a message to @RamCares for some guidance. Dealership said the flares don’t come painted and need to be painted locally. Anyone know if that is true or not? I really don’t want to be getting into working with a dealership body shop doing this warranty repair as cheap and quick as possible on a brand new vehicle...

 

[bill-e]

So that sounds like crap! All dealer's have guys. Give Hillsboro CDJR a call in Hillsboro NH. I don't think that they have a body shop either but on my '15 they replaced a fender flair and had it painted. They are a great dealer/service by the way.

• Service: 844-556-4733
• Parts: 844-304-1920

75 Antrim Rd, Hillsboro, NH 03244-5205

 

[Paultg]

So that sounds like crap! All dealer's have guys. Give Hillsboro CDJR a call in Hillsboro NH. I don't think that they have a body shop either but on my '15 they replaced a fender flair and had it painted. They are a great dealer/service by the way.

• Service: 844-556-4733
• Parts: 844-304-1920

75 Antrim Rd, Hillsboro, NH 03244-5205

Thanks. I agree it’s BS. I got the “did you buy it here” question too.
I decided not to be a wise *** and ask why that was relevant. I just said it was purchased out of state and that I had been planning to service the vehicle there.

At this point I’d rather just have this repaired at a body shop of my choice and have FCA pay for it. I suspect that isn’t an option. Waiting for @RamCares to respond.

 

[OldMarine]

what a joke...the flares don't come painted as a general rule,(there are some exceptions in the auto industry, but FCA isn't one of them). If a dealer wanted to help, they would have you drop off the truck, give you a loaner, and THEY would remove the flare, and send it our to THEIR body shop. And the comment that they "don't have a body shop" is asinine. Ok, they may not have their very own shop, but ALL dealers have a relationship with a local body shop....ask them where they send their cars when they get dinged on the lot? good luck.

 

[Paultg]

Yup, exactly what I was thinking. I’ll see if I get any response from @RamCares then decide what to do. If I’m not happy with the process I could just remove the damn thing myself and take it to a preferred shop for repair. Can’t imagine it be too expensive to prep and repaint a single fender flare.

 

[Bcryan]

Our trucks are way to expensive to put up with that...I would have just called Ram/Dodge and got it straightened out

 

[bill-e]

By the way, this is not an uncommon problem. Over the years I've seen a number of posts showing the same issue. What's worse is when a dealer removes the flair, has it painted, but is it all chewed up from prying it away from the adhesive strips.

When I had one that was separating on my '15, my dealer ordered a new one, had it painted, then removed and replaced the old one.

 

[Paultg]

Thanks for the info. Yeah I expect to call Dodge/Ram next week if RamsCares doesn’t get back to me.

 

[Paultg]

So the joke somewhat continues. Ramcares messaged me back and suggested I call the customer care team. I did that, she was helpful, but ultimately she called dealers near my zip code to see if they had a body shop... all of which answered "no". She was very nice, but I just said if that was all they could do I might as well make the calls myself.
So I guess that's what I'll do tomorrow, call a bunch of dealers until I find one willing to help fix this warranty issue....

 

[Scram1500]

It's crazy how much these things cost with the **** poor quality. Remember though all those bells and whistles in Laramies/Limiteds that inflate the price get sprayed by the same paint guns that paint a $30k Tradesman

 

[Paultg]

It's crazy how much these things cost with the **** poor quality. Remember though all those bells and whistles in Laramies/Limiteds that inflate the price get sprayed by the same paint guns that paint a $30k Tradesman

I’m not really upset that I have a paint issue; crap happens. I sell HVAC equipment for a living. I’m successful because of how I handle situations like this for my customer. They know I didn’t make the product or ship it. But I handle it for them as quickly and painless for them as possible.

Make some calls tomorrow, especially the recommendation @bill-e provided.